Limitations of Peanuts Franchise

[Leland Wykoff]

For an example of how Cedar Fair missed an excellent opportunity to expand the Nickelodeon license it received in the purchase of the Paramount Parks franchise, please this excellent article by Thomas Lee in today's Star Tribune:

http://www.startribune.com/blogs/130570388.html

The article examines how the Nickelodeon characters have new fresh life and the limitations of the Camp Snoopy concept. Recall Mr. Kinzel saw no value in the Nickelodeon license and let it expire. The Mall of America attributes much of the 9.4% gain in total mall sales to the Nickelodeon Universe which replaced Camp Snoopy, a Cedar Fair property.

It is doubtful incoming CEO, and current president, Matt Ouimet would have made the same blunder as Kinzel in letting these valuable brands slip through the fingers of Cedar Fair.

The Star Trek license, which was part of the Paramount acquisition, was also terminated by Mr. Kinzel.

Penny wise, and pound foolish.

[kingsrattler]

I think the best point made in the article, to argue why Peanuts characters are good for the park compared to the Nick characters is the quote:

Bausch said kids were only associating Peanuts with the Mall of America.

"You want them to see [the characters] in the media and know that they can touch it at your facility," she said. "You don’t want to generate all of the awareness for that brand. It was time for a change."

While this doesn't really work for a mall, with an amusement park, it isn't necessarily bad.

[The Interpreter]

I respectfully disagree. VIACOM saw what Cedar Fair paid CBS for the parks. It wanted a King's ransom, and then some, for a renewal.

An analogy. A Cadillac may be a very fine car. Would you buy one? Perhaps. Would you if the only price you could get for the only one you wanted was $23,000,000.68?

I didn't think so.

Mr. Kinzel made many decisions, some of them very dubious. This isn't one of them.

[Pagoda Gift Shop]

You might be right, but I think we will have to evaluate this for a long time to be certain. KI had the Nick license for a while. The real question is whether it will be worth it for Mall of America when Nick comes and says they want an additional 10 million to keep the license, because they know that it is profitable for them.

[kingsrattler]

^^

Only if you took off the 68 cents, then I would buy it.

[Dieseltech20]

Lol. I can see it now. Come on kid, lets ride the iCoaster. Nick is just like Disney nowadays, dominated by lame Tween shows starring kids that sing Autotuned music. Good riddance.

[standbyme]

A couple of months ago a local grocery store brought in Dora for a day...the same Dora that used to be at the park. At first the store had her at the front of the store....but after the line stretched outside they moved her to the very back of the store by the milk...the line was STILL almost outside!!!

Nick is far from outdated with today's kids...you pay for what you get.

[lebeau]

I thought this story was rubbish. It sounds like Mall of America wasn't making good use of the Peanuts theme. To try to apply that situation to Kings Island and conclude that KI made a mistake letting Nick go is not an apt comparisson.

Is Nick a more popular franchse than the Peanuts? I'd say so. Was that popularity bringing people into KI? I don't think so. Planet Snoopy is as busy as Nick Universe ever was. The lines to see the characters are just as long (which is to say they have always been very short). The rides are as popular as ever.

Bottom line, the change to Planet Snoopy was wise. It doesn't appear to have hurt the park's income in any way and has saved them money over a more expensive property.

All the other stuff just sounds like justification. Why would KI need a new Peanuts character? How are they in any way limited by the Peanuts brand?

When the change was announced, I had my doubts as much as anyone. My daughter loved Spongebob at the time. And she liked Dora and Diego, the Fairly Odd Parents and some of the other shows. A lot of them had been off the air too long for her to even know about them. So, I was a little bummed to see Spongebob go.

But she didn't mind the change at all. It took a season for her to learn the new characters names. But now she enjoys watching all those Peanuts specials with me on the holidays. She's outgrown Spongebob and the rest, but the Peanuts are timeless.

We also have a younger daughter who never saw the Nick version of Kings Island. She's 2 now and loves Dora and Diego. But through the park, she's also come to love Snoopy and the Peanuts.

If the Planet Snoopy conversion had been in some way botched, I could see why people would complain. But even the most vocal opponents have been won over by Planet Snoopy. KI did a great job with the conversion and that's really all that matters. It's a quality kid's area. The theme is less important than the execution.

It's time to move on to something else.

[Timbo1]

I like the thought of Peanuts being at KI, can't really call them regional characters but they lend an air of nostalgia. I think about Peanuts and I remember watching them on TV during holidays. But as a kid I see them as great treats related directly to KI and as a kid it doesn't need to be much bigger than that. The characters NICK creates are mostly geared toward an audience that is likely riding the Diamond Back or holding hands with a pimply faced partner acting as cool as possible walking around the park. Yes NICK may be main stream for many but as a parent that wants my kids to stay a kid for as long as possible, I love it when they say can we go see the Flying Dog, or that big headed boy with the zig zag on his shirt. That is cool and I am glad we save the money, maybe we can use it to make more theming for the park to create the whole experience. Thank you

[RailRider]

My 4 year old who many have seen in my Trip Reports is more excited to see Snoopy than she ever was Sponge Bob or any other Nick character. She has already watched the Great Pumpkin twice this seasson and each Peanuts special is a must for her during the Holiday seasson. Maybe my child is different than most, but she loves Snoopy and only knows of him from the specials and the ocassional visit to the parks.

[kingsrattler]

I think the "Peanuts" characters present something "special", where as Nick is all around them every day. Peanuts are something that get pulled out on the holidays to watch, or when you go to Kings Island, creates an excitement tie to it. Nick characters they see on t.v. everyday. They are more "taken granted of" then "special". That's just my two cents. Good thing it's not Lucy, she would charge five.

[markr]

All I can say is the kids seem to be enjoying the Peanuts characters just as much as the Nick characters from the smiles on their faces. Nuff said.